Menthaxc3x97aquatica L. xe2x80x98Aquamintxe2x80x99.
xe2x80x98Aquamintxe2x80x99.
Selection 81-019-16 is a new Menthaxc3x97aquatica L. plant that has resistance to mint wilt (Verticillium dahliae) and mint rust (Pucciniaxc3x97menthae) and has a more upright growth habit than its seed parent. I have named my new cultivar xe2x80x98Aquamint.xe2x80x99 The growth and biomass production of 81-019-16 under field conditions resembles that of xe2x80x98Black Mitchamxe2x80x99 peppermint (Menthaxc3x97piperita L.). The oil produced by this plant has the same components as commercial peppermint but in different concentration ratios. The major components of the oil from 81-019-16 are menthofuran, and pulegone.
This new mint was discovered in a mint breeding program in which the primary objective was to develop a mint with a high concentration of menthofuran and other chemical components common in peppermint oil. The oil from this plant was designed to be blended with mint oils low in menthofuran and other components to improve their quality. The secondary objective of the program was to introduce resistance to the mint diseases, Rust caused by Puccinia menthae and Wilt caused by Verticillium dahliae. The new plant was discovered in a cultivated area on land near Corvallis, Oreg., and was initially identified as 81-019-16.
Selection 81-019-16 originated as a seedling from a polycross where the female (seed) parent was a Mentha aquatica L. plant identified as M-0100 (proprietary, unpatented) in our germplasm collection. Parent M-0100 is male sterile and rarely, but occasionally, outcrosses with other Mentha species. The pollen parent is unknown, but the pollinator in the polycross came from other Mentha species (proprietary, unpatented) plants in our collection. Seedlings that developed from seeds collected from the female parent were planted in observation plots where plant vigor and disease development were recorded. Selected seedlings were harvested for oil collection. Selection 81-019-16 was found to have the characteristics of vigorous growth, disease resistance and an oil composition that satisfied the objectives of the breeding program.
Asexual reproduction of 81-019-16 was conducted each year under my direction since 1981 at a research farm and greenhouses near Corvallis, Oreg. Asexual reproduction has been conducted by rooting stem cuttings and by planting stolon taken from field grown plants. Characteristics of 81-019-16 in so far as they have been observed are firmly fixed, come true-to-form and are established and transmitted in succeeding generations through vegetative propagation.